PROCEEDINGS

	IN THE CASE OF:       

	BOARD DATE:            11 May 2000
	DOCKET NUMBER:   AR2000037074

	I certify that hereinafter is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in the case of the above-named individual.  

	Mr. Carl W. S. Chun		Director	
	Mr. Joseph A. Adriance		Analyst	

The following members, a quorum, were present:

	Mr. Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr.		Chairperson	
	Mr. James M. Alward		Member	
	Mr. Christopher J. Prosser		Member	

	The applicant and counsel if any, did not appear before the Board.

	The Board considered the following evidence:

	Exhibit A -  Application for correction of military 
                             records
	Exhibit B -  Military Personnel Records (including
	                  advisory opinion, if any)

FINDINGS:

1.  The applicant has exhausted or the Board has waived the requirement for exhaustion of all administrative remedies afforded by existing law or regulations.

2.  The applicant requests, in effect, that he be awarded a Purple Heart (PH) for a wound received in action during World War II.

3.  The applicant states, in effect, that he received shrapnel wounds to his left leg, in August 1944, while engaged in action against the enemy.  He states that his wound was received while he was serving in Italy during World War II.  In support of his application, he has enclosed a copy of his War Department (WD) Adjutant General Office (AGO) Form 38 (Report of Physical Examination of Enlisted Personnel Prior to Discharge, Release From Active Duty or Retirement), dated 7 May 1946.

4.  The applicant’s military records were not available to the Board for review.  A fire destroyed approximately 18 million service members’ records at the National Personnel Records Center in 1973.  It is believed that the applicant’s records were lost in that fire.  

5.  The evidence or record does include a WD AGO Form 53-55 (Enlisted Record and Report of Separation-Honorable Discharge).  This document verifies that he was inducted into the Army of the United States (AUS) on 11 October 1943 and that he served on active duty until being honorably discharged, in the rank of private first class (PFC), on 7 March 1946.  It also verifies that he arrived for duty in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) on 18 May 1944 and served there until 15 February 1946.  

6.  The WD AGO Form 53-55 also shows that he participated in the Rome-ARNO and Northern Appennines campaigns of World War II, as an infantryman, and that he was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge; the Good Conduct Medal; and the World War II Victory Medal.  

7.  The evidence of record includes a Medical Personnel Record (MPR) finding report provided by the National Archives.  This MPR contains an extract of a treatment record on the applicant, which indicates that he was treated by the station hospital in Italy on 1 August 1944.  This treatment is consistent with the timeframe in which the applicant indicates he was wounded in action. 

8.  The WD AGO Form 38 provided by the applicant indicates that he underwent a separation physical examination at Camp Atterbury, Indiana on 7 March 1946.  Block 11 (List of Significant Diseases, Wounds, and Injuries) of this form contains an entry verifying that he had been wounded in action and had been treated at the station hospital in Italy for that wound.  

9.  Block 11F of the WD AGO Form 38 verifies that he had received medical treatment at a dispensary in Italy, in August 1944, for a shrapnel wound to left leg which he received while engaged with the enemy.  These entries in the separation physical examination paperwork pertaining to the applicant being wounded in action were officially accepted as part of the medical record with the approval of this document by competent medical authority on 7 March 1946.

10.  Army Regulation 600-8-22 (Military Awards) prescribes Army policy, criteria, and administrative instructions concerning individual military awards.  Paragraph 2-8 (Purple Heart) contains the regulatory guidance pertaining to awarding the PH.  It states, in pertinent part, that the PH is awarded in the name of the President of the United States to any member of an Armed Force or any civilian national of the United States who, while serving under competent authority in any capacity with one of the U.S. Armed Services after 5 April 1917, who has been wounded or killed in action.  

11.  The awards regulation states that a wound is defined as an injury to any part of the body from an outside force or agent sustained under the conditions defined by this regulation.  In order to support awarding a member the PH, it is necessary to establish that the wound, for which the award is being made, required treatment by a medical officer.  This treatment must be supported by records of medical treatment for the wound or injury received in action, and must have been made a matter of official record.  

12.  Paragraph 3-13 contains guidance on awarding the BSM and states that the BSM is awarded to members who served in any capacity in the AUS after 
6 December 1941 and distinguished themselves by heroic or meritorious achievement or service in connection with military operations against an armed enemy.  

13.  Paragraph 3-13 d (2) states, in pertinent part, that the BSM should be awarded to any member of the AUS who, after 6 December 1941, had been cited in orders or awarded a certificate for exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945.  For this purpose, an award of the CIB is considered as a citation in orders.  

CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The regulation states, in order to support awarding a member the PH, that it is necessary to establish that the wound, for which the award is being made, required treatment by a medical officer.  This treatment must be supported by records of medical treatment for the wound or injury received in action, and must have been made a matter of official record.  The Board determined that the National Archives MPR findings extract and the WD AGO Form 38 more than satisfy the burden of proof mandated by this regulation.  
2.  Based on the weight of the medical evidence, it is clear that the applicant was in fact wounded while engaged in an action against an enemy force, on 1 August 1944, and he is clearly entitled to be awarded the PH.  Therefore, the Board determined, in the interest of justice and equity, that the applicant be awarded the PH and that this award be added to his separation documents at this time.

3.  During the review of this case, it was determined that the applicant met the regulatory criteria for award of the BSM based on his exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy between 7 December 1941 and 
2 September 1945.  Based on his achievement in the ETO, as evidenced by his being awarded the CIB, it is evident that he meets the  prerequisites of the regulation and is eligible to receive the BSM.  Although the applicant did not request this relief, the Board concluded it would be appropriate, in the interest of equity, to award the applicant the BSM at this time.

4.  In view of the foregoing, the applicant’s records should be corrected as recommended below.

RECOMMENDATION:

1.  That all of the Department of the Army records related to this case be corrected by awarding the individual concerned the PH for wounds he received in action, on 1 August 1944, while serving as a PFC in Italy during World War II.

2.  Further, by awarding the individual concerned a BSM, for meritorious achievement, based on his exemplary conduct in ground combat against an armed enemy, between 18 May 1944 and 15 February 1946, while serving as a PFC in the ETO during World War II. 

BOARD VOTE:  

__cjp ___  ___ja____  __rvo ___  GRANT AS STATED IN RECOMMENDATION

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

________  ________  ________  DENY APPLICATION

		_ Raymond V. O’Connor, Jr._
		        CHAIRPERSON

INDEX

CASE ID	AR2000037074	
SUFFIX		
RECON		
DATE BOARDED	2000/05/11	
TYPE OF DISCHARGE	HD	
DATE OF DISCHARGE	1946/03/07	
DISCHARGE AUTHORITY	AR 615-365	
DISCHARGE REASON	Demobilization	
BOARD DECISION	GRANT	
REVIEW AUTHORITY		
ISSUES         1. 61	107.0015	
2.		
3.		
4.		
5.		
6.